Liverpool will be without Adam Lallana for the start of the season after the new signee injured his knee in training. The club announced that Lallana would not have undergo surgery to repair the damaged lateral collateral ligament, but that he could miss up to six weeks.
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The prognosis is a good one for Lallana and Liverpool, who feared he could need an operation. Had he gone under the knife, he would have likely been facing a four-month absence.
Lallana was injured in just his fourth training session with Liverpool. He, like the rest of Liverpool's World Cup players, did not report to preseason training until Monday, and by Thursday, Lallana had gone down.
Brendan Rodgers identified Lallana as a key target at the beginning of the transfer window, and by the start of July, he had captured the midfielder for a cool £25 million. Now his biggest signing, and one who is going to be counted on to help fill the hole left by the departed Luis Suarez, will miss the beginning of the season.
Lallana will now hope to be ready in time for the start of the Champions League campaign. He will already miss the season opener against his former club Southampton, and is likely to miss clashes against Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur, possibly leaving Liverpool with an uphill climb to the league title right from the start.